Humour

Humour can be such a personal thing. One man's meat and all that. I am sometimes embarrassed at the things I can laugh at. I love word play but can still find someone slipping on a banana skin funny.

My Great Uncle Harry was a bit of a recluse. He avoided all family contact until late in life when he discovered having a family wasn't such a bad thing. One day my dad went to visit him and Harry was standing in his kitchen wearing only a vest. Thing was, the vest was on upside down and his legs were through the arm holes. He had tide the neck, to cover his arse, with a length of string. He had run out of underpants and that was his solution.

Harry was a raging atheist so, at his funeral, someone arranged to have a few words said on his behalf. He spoke for a while and then said "I'd just like you all to close your eyes and think for a minute about Harry and your favourite recollection of him." It was one of my sisters who was the first to break. All six of us had the same immediate thought, Harry wearing his vest upside down as underpants. There was much shoulder movement and muffling of laughter till we got out into the light. Three sisters has tears running down their cheeks which fit in with the mood of a funeral for the wrong reasons. The next stiff was lined up and the mourners coming in looked extremely confused.

The week before my cancer op I bought a new pair of shoes. I went to see my dad before I was admitted to hospital. "Are they new shoes" he asked. "Was it worth bothering?" We cope with dark things with humour within the family. At every funeral my dad asked his next brother or sister in line if it was worth them leaving the graveside. There are only two of the eight left so it will be interesting to see who has the last laugh. I keep telling my dad he is spoiling my eulogy for him by passing another birthday. He was 91 last week.